Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg ( Russian : Санкт-Петербург, Sankt-Peterboerg) after Moscow 's main city and the former capital of Russia and is also an important industrial, scientific and cultural center. The city with its architecture from the 18th and 19th centuries , its canals, its long straight streets, gardens, parks and palaces, a tourist attraction of importance. From 1713 to 1728 and from 1732 to 1918 the city was the capital of the Russian Empire. The city was called Petrograd from 1914 to 1924 and from 1924 to 1991 Leningrad. St Petersburg is the seat of the oblast Leningrad , although it itself no part of. The city is situated in a delta at the mouth of the river Neva in the Nevabaai , the easternmost part of the Gulf of Finland . The population is about 5 million. The city is an important traffic hub with a seaport, an airport (Пулково Pulkovo ) and access to the Volga-Baltic waterway system. The city has a subway (since 1955).There is a lot of industries, including steel, chemicals and engineering. The city is the seat of the Russian Academy of Sciences and has many research institutes , three universities and a conservatory. There are some 120 museums, including the Hermitage and the Russian Museum , and more than 50 theaters, including the Mariinsky Theatre . Contents * 1 History * 2 Transport and transport * 3 Art and Culture ** 3.1 Museums ** 3.2 Theatres ** 3.3 Literature ** 3.4 Religion and Churches ** 3.5 White Nights * 4 Suburbs ** 4.1 Lomonosov ** 4.2 Peterhof ** 4.3 Pushkin ** 4.4 Repino * 5 Other sites * 6 Education * 7 Sport * 8 Town twinning * 9 Celebrities from St. Petersburg History The Peter and Paul Fortress was the first building in St. Petersburg St. Petersburg was founded on May 27, 1703 by Peter the Great to the old by Ivan the Terrible depopulated Hanseatic Novgorodas "window on the West to "replace and became the capital of Russia. The city is named after its founder, but to the apostle Peter, the patron saint of the city. Originally, the name Sankt-Piter-Boerch (Санкт-Питер-Бурхъ), an imitation of the Dutch "St. Peter Burg". However, this was soon changed in the German Sankt-Peterburg, the name carried the town during its period as the capital of the Russian Empire, and again after the fall of communism was. During construction were used mostly forced laborers. It is unclear how many people were killed here, but possibly up to 100,000 of them were killed in the 18-year construction of the city. The city received a Western respect including forty canals to Dutchmodel. The city was in a sparsely populated area, Ingermanland that advance not by Russians but by izhorians , a kindred people, was occupied by the Finns. There settled many immigrants, both Russians and Western Europeans. The city quickly eclipsed Arkhangelsk main port city of Russia . By the end of Tsar Peter's reign (1725), the city already had about 50,000 inhabitants. The city would remain Russia's government center until 1918. From the mid-18th century until the Russian Revolution maintained the so-called Rusluie contacts between Vriezenveen ( Overijssel ) and St. Petersburg. Initially the Dutch traveled back and forth, later they found permanent housing in St. Petersburg on Nevsky Prospekt , where a real Dutch district including Reformed Churchoriginated. Main merchandise was textiles, but also wine and tobacco were traded. By the end of the 18th century the population of the city grew to about 200,000, still less than Moscow , which then numbered nearly 300,000 inhabitants. In the time ofCatherine II of Russia (1762-1796) began in the city to develop a vibrant cultural life. For example, a university is founded, inter alia. In 1825 took place in St. Petersburg the Dekabristenopstand place, opposition of a number of noble officers against the new tsar. They wanted to introduce more Western ideas that went against the autocratic system. The leaders of the uprising were hanged. In 1868 was the St. Petersburg Declaration issued that the 26 states that banned it signed to use explosive projectiles of less than four hundred grams. In March 1881 became Tsar Alexander II, the victim of a bomb attack by a member of the revolutionary movement Narodnaya Volya (People's Will). At the spot where he was mortally wounded, left his son Tsar Alexander III the Russian Orthodox Cathedral of the Resurrection "Our Savior on the Blood" building, which somewhat contrasts with the overall look of the city focused on the West. In 1905 the city was again the scene of a failed revolution, then on Bloody Sunday, the guard opened fire on a number of protesters who wanted to offer a petition for greater democracy to Tsar Nicholas II . In 1914, when World War I broke out, St. Petersburg was renamed Petrograd, as Sankt-Peterburg sounded too German, and Russia was at war with Germany . In the course of the war there, especially in the cities, a growing lack of food and other products and so took the dissatisfaction among the workers and soldiers increased. In 1917 followed the February Revolution and the October Revolution , respectively, the end of the czars and the beginning of the Soviet era heralded. The Bolsheviks, news came to power, wanted to join after their takeover peace with the Central Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria and the Ottoman Empire).After the ceasefire proclaimed by December 15, 1917 between the Central Powers and Russia on the other hand, the peace negotiations lasted very long. Leon Trotsky , a negotiator on behalf of the Russian government would not give in to German demands of remote area. After February 9, 1918 the German army was instructed to continue its advance into Russia. In twenty-four hours, for the most part of Ukraine occupied. Germany also sent a naval fleet off to St. Petersburg, followed by land troops from the south of Finland . Russia capitulated and was on March 3, 1918 Brest-Litovsk peace signed. The Bolsheviks decided in response to these eventsMoscow to the new capital. In 1924, Petrograd was renamed Leningrad in tribute to the deceased that year Lenin . In the Second World War, the city had a 29-month siege by the Nazi 's stand, which demanded great sacrifices from the civilian population. During the winter months, there was occasionally some supplies on the nearby frozen Lake Ladoga possible, but otherwise there was terrible hunger in the city, which even cannibalism resulted.The exact number of deaths (mostly civilians) during the siege is not known. Only the Piskarovskoje cemetery were more than 600,000 dead buried. It is estimated that there are certainly more than a million people died. For the heroic defense Leningrad received the honorary title of Hero City of the Soviet Union . On September 6, 1993 was Leningrad, after a referendum, its old name before 1914: St. Petersburg. The surrounding oblast was called Leningrad. Transport and transport Pulkovo is the main airport of Saint Petersburg. International flights arrive at Terminal 2. A third terminal is under construction. There are several bus and marshrutka 's the connection to the center or concerns with the nearest metro station Moskovskaja. St. Petersburg has five headends. The Baltiysky vokzal formerly kept the connection to Tallinn , but now serves only for the connection to the suburbs. Daily arrive and depart still here several buses to Tallinn and Kohtla Jarva in Estonia . From the Finland Station depart trains to the north as to Vyborg and Helsinki . The Ladozjski vokzalserves trains to the north and east, while the Moskovsky vokzal trains operating to the east and south. Trains to Moscow depart from the latter two stations. Finally there is the Vitebski vokzal for connections to the south. The metro of St. Petersburg has 5 lines, which continued to be expanded, which connect all stations together. The stations are very deep. The trolleybus - and tram route network is very large, but especially the tram is poorly maintained and there are removed the last 20 years tens of kilometers. marshrutka 's - private bus lines - skim the municipal transport. The main thoroughfare in the city center, the Nevsky Prospekt , which starts at the Admiralty and 4 kilometers further terminates at the Alexander Nevsky Monastery .This road by several rivers in the Neva its delta sections, namely (given off by the Admiralty) the Mojka , the Gribojedovkanaal and the Fontanka . Social life in St. Petersburg takes place since the time of Pushkin and Gogol around the Nevsky Prospekt on whose short story, Nevsky Prospekt Gogol testifies. At present, the construction of a major highway (toll) in the center in full swing. This increased floating highway runs from the south (airport) via Vasilevsky Island to the north. The expected completion date is somewhere close to 2015. Part of the road is already in use. In 2008, the more than 115-kilometer bypass in use. West of the city is the walk along the St. Petersburgdam . This dam was built to protect the city from flooding and the water of the Nevabaai not to be too high. Since the founding of the city in 1703 there was an average of once a year registered a flood. Arts and culture Museums St. Petersburg has a large number of museums, including the Hermitage is by far the best known. The headquarters of the Hermitage is located in the former Winter Palace , the main residence of the Russian tsars. The Hermitage collection consists mainly of Western European art, and has started the collection of Catherine the Great , which, after the October Revolution, the Bolsheviks added the of the displaced nobles confiscated works of art. The Hermitage has a number of branches in St. Petersburg, including the Mensjikovpaleis . The Russian Museum houses a large collection of mostly Russian artists, starting with icons . This museum has the second largest collection of paintings by the flow of''the tractors'' ( Peredvizhniki ). The collection includes many works by Russian avant-garde artists such as Natalia Goncharova , and Kazimir Malevich . The headquarters of the Russian Museum is located in the Michailovskipaleis, located next to the Cathedral of the Resurrection "Our Saviour on the Blood" . The museum has several branches in St. Petersburg, including the Marble Palace (with the Ludwig Museum ). Theatres The most famous theater of St. Petersburg, the Mariinsky Theatre , which at the time of the Soviet Union as Kirov Theatre was known. It is home to the Mariinskiballetand many famous dancers (including Vaslav Nijinsky , Rudolf Nureyev and Mikhail Baryshnikov ) were trained at the theater affiliated Vaganova Ballet Academy . During the Russian empire was the Russian nobility fashion to also have a private theater in their palaces. Well-known examples are the Hermitage Theater and the theater in the Yusupov Palace , which are still actively used as theaters. References Many Russian writers have lived in St. Petersburg. Alexander Pushkin was educated at the Lyceum of Tsarskoye Selo near St. Petersburg. Because his poems often evoked the wrath of those in power, Pushkin became twice banished to the countryside. The house on the Mojka where Pushkin lived until his death in 1837 is now a museum. Nikolai Gogol was briefly a professor at the University of St. Petersburg. Some of his short stories (eg Nevsky Prospekt) takes place in St. Petersburg. Fyodor Dostoyevsky lived a long time in St. Petersburg. His novel Crime and Punishment takes place in St. Petersburg, and the different places that Dostoyevsky describes are still recognizable. In the first half of the twentieth century St. Petersburg was home to the Acmeïsten , an important group of poets, including Anna Akhmatova and Osip Mandelstam . AlsoSymbolists as Aleksandr Blok and Andrei Bely lived in St. Petersburg and wrote about the city. Religion and churches The main religion in St. Petersburg, the Russian Orthodoxy . Under the communist regime, many churches closed, but after the fall of communism, a number of churches were returned to the Church. The most important religious complex in St. Petersburg, the Alexander Nevsky Lavra with the Tikhvin Cemetery . The monastery, founded in 1710 by Peter the Great , is one of four Lavra at the Russian Orthodox Church . The Tikhvin Cemetery many important musicians and writers are buried, including Tchaikovsky and Dostoevsky . Prominent in the town of St. Petersburg is the spire of the Peter and Paul Cathedral , which is now the graves of all the Tsars houses of Russia. The cathedral, located within the walls of the Peter and Paul Fortress on Hare Island in the Neva River, is a museum since 1924, but services are again held after the revolution. Another church that is prominent, the St. Isaac's Cathedral , which now serves as a museum of mosaics . The church is the largest in St. Petersburg. The Kazan Cathedral , located in a prominent place along the Nevsky Prospekt , is designed on the Saint Peter's Basilica in the Vatican to appear, and was during the communist regime used as a Museum of the History of Religion and Atheism. Meanwhile, the church was again used as a church. From the Cathedral at the end of theGribojedovkanaal the Cathedral of the Resurrection "Our Savior on the Blood" to see. The cathedral, built on the spot where Tsar Alexander II was mortally wounded in an attack, never functioned as an official church. The only services held there have been memorial services for the deceased czar. Because of the enormous areas of mosaics, this church is organisationally part of the Izaakskathedraal. The St. Nicholas Cathedral is traditionally the church for the sailors in St Petersburg. This church, where the funeral mass of the poet in 1967, Anna Akhmatova was held, has both an upper church as a church under. The upper church is used only on special holidays. Other churches are the Panteleimonkerk , Church of the Holy Apostle Matthias and the Mother of God , the Savior and the Andrew's Cathedral . White Nights Because of the northern location of St. Petersburg is the night around the beginning of summer (June 21) very short. In this period, the White Nights is called, the bridges are open all the time from 1 to 5 hours at night. Since 1993, the annual White Nights Festival held each evening performances at the Mariinsky Theatre . This period is also the "Scarlet Sails" (Алые паруса) celebrated to mark the end of the school year. Suburbs Lomonosov Lomonosov is located on the southern coast of the Gulf of Finland, opposite the island of Kronstadt . Until 1948 the city of St. Petersburg was called Oranienbaum, which means in German "orange tree". In that year the town was named after the Russian scientist Mikhail Lomonosov . Lomonosov is best known for the palace complex Oranienbaum , a former residence of the imperial family. In addition, here the composer Igor Stravinsky was born. Peterhof The big Peterhof palace on the Grand Cascade In Peterhof is famous palace complex located, which has been compared with Versailles . The complex, which was built by order of Peter the Great , consisting of the grand palace, an upper and lower garden, and a number of smaller palaces. The gardens are richly decorated with fountains, solely on water pressure as a result of working height. Pushkin The Catherine Palace in Pushkin The town of Pushkin , formerly Tsarskoye Selo, after the Russian Revolution, named after the great Russian writer Alexander Pushkin , as these here at the lyceum been to school. He also had his first poems in the public submitted to the then famous poet of Russia, Gavrila Derzhavin . The village of Tsarskoye Selo in the 18th century, best known as the tsars had their summer residence. The Catherine Palace and the Alexander Palace are the biggest crowd pullers. Repino The village Repino was in the early twentieth century, part of Finland , which was ruled by Russia until 1918, and was then called Kuokkala. When the Karelian Isthmusafter the Winter War and the Continuation War with the Soviet Union was drafted, it was named in 1948 to its most famous resident, the painter Ilya Repin , which here had designed his own house and studio and built. Additional points of interest Museums * Dostoevsky Museum * Yusupov Palace * Peter and Paul Fortress * Railway (former Warsaw Station) Theaters * Alexandrinskitheater * Mussorgsky Theater Monasteries, churches * Trinity Cathedral * Church of the Savior on the Spilled Blood * Peter and Paul Cathedral * Kazan Cathedral * Smolnyklooster * St. Isaac's Cathedral * Cathedral of St Nicholas * Transfiguration Cathedral * Vladimir Cathedral * Vladimirskaja Cathedral * Cathedral of the Holy Sampson * Chesme Church Memorials, cemeteries, parks * Monument to the blockade * Piskarovskoje cemetery * Tauric garden * Summer Garden Other sites * Admiralty * Konservatorija im. NVRimskogo-Korsakova * Leningradsky Zoopark * Palace Square * Smolny Institute * Tauride Palace In the vicinity of St Petersburg * Gatchina * Lomonosov (Oranienbaum) * Pavlovsk Education University of Economy and Finance St. Petersburg is the most important educational and scientific center of Russia. In the city there are more than 120 universities and colleges . Known include the Saint Petersburg State University , University of Economics and Finance and the Polytechnic University , the Russian Academy of Fine Arts and the Academy of St. Petersburg. In the city of approximately 600,000 people working in education and science, including about 340,000 students. In Petersburg, lived and worked for a number of Nobel laureates, including the last Zhores Alferov , the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2000. Sports In the highest division of Russian football, Premjer League , plays FC Zenit Saint Petersburg . The club plays its home matches at the Petrovski -stadion (21,570 seats). Zenit St Petersburg, then headed by Dick Advocaat played on May 14, 2008, the UEFA Cup -finale against Glasgow Rangers in Manchester and won 2-0. The BelgiansNicolas Lombaerts and Axel Witsel play at Zenit. City links Celebrities from St. Petersburg Category:St. Petersburg Category:World Heritage in Russia